Numbers: a call for action by Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan, as you surely heard, was arrested in the House gallery on the night of the State of the Union. Her “crime”: wearing a t-shirt that displayed the number of US casualties (as of that day, 2245).

After holding her for four hours, the Capitol police let her go, and said that they erred; she had done nothing illegal.

It is fairly clear that this incident is part of an ongoing stiffling of dissent, at the very least. We must fight back against this un-American campaign of political control.

To this end, Cindy has issued a call to action. She urges all of us to wear or otherwise display these numbers whenever possible, as a political statement about the war, and of free speech.

Here at the Peace House, we have put up a sign in our front window, nothing fancy, just large numbers printed out on the computer. If you don’t have a computer, or want to reduce toner use, just use a fat marker. And simple black and white makes the clearest statement.

The numbers on this war tell the true story. The truth needs to be displayed widely, because we cannot count on the government or the media to tell that story. And we must demand our right to tell the truth, before it too is taken away.